My life in the center of the world -- musings on my family, community (local, global, physical and virtual), people and more. Oh and of course, a few words on tech related start-ups, within the context of living in the ulimate start-up with humble goal of repairing the world. Venture backed by over 3,000 years of history, thought, culture, and angst.
By Jacob Ner-David

November 18, 2012

When I left Israel, there was a momentary ceasefire in the "low level" violence being directed at southern Israeli towns by various militia in Gaza. I purposely say militia instead of "terrorists" because as the world is now aware, we are in a state of war with those in Gaza who have been using psychological warfare on and off for many years. Terrorists and terrorism can sometimes elecit a sense of martyrdom for a cause, to perpetuate the idea of the underdog. War, on the other hand, is simply war. And at times armies, acting on behalf of a nation, commit war crimes, attack civilian populations with no just cause.

This is the situation we are in. Hamas has been at war with Israel for many years, we are only know fully acknowledging that reality.

During a ceasefire in the war, Israeli political and military leadership took a decision to act upon a war room priority of killing Jabaari, the Hamas military chief. Similar to the US decision to hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden, who also was a political and military leader.

I personally think the world would have been a better place if we had brought Bin Laden forth to stand tribunal for his crimes, and sentence him to a life imprisonment pondering his fate. Yes, I am against the death penalty at all times, even for someone like Bin Laden. When there is a ticking bomb, however, we do not have that moral luxury -- and so at times we are justified in acting. Was that the case with Jabaari? Did our political and military leaders feel he was a ticking bomb, destined to commit further war crimes if we did not act in time? Perhaps. And so maybe there was a justified moral compromise. I do not know.

What I do know is that taking out of the equation one of the symptoms, without treating the core issues, is not a morally acceptable strategy.

If we have momentarily defused a bomb, wonderful -- but we must follow it up immediately with an intensive move to cure the disease, not only the symptoms. Gaza has been, since the ill-planned pullout, a stew of hatred breeding intense hatred. Is all of that Israel's "fault?" Of course not, Gaza shares a border with Egypt, under both Mubarek and his successor Musri that border has been closed -- and so are the sea, air, and other land borders controlled by Israel. Israel helped create a State of Gaza, with it's own political and military leadership. We are at war with that State -- but at some point we will want to live at peace.

And of course there is also the slowly developing State of West Bank, which we are fighting but is taking shape regardless. Will these two states merge? Maybe, but not our call. We need to make our peace with both of them, with an intensity matching or exceeding that of war.

When I was in Silicon Valley I visited with an Israeli friend whose company was recently acquired, and as a result he moved with his family to Silicon Valley to see through the integration of hs company into the acquiring entity. When I asked him how he was doing on a personal level, he said he only has one complaint about his new life in Silicon Valley..."that he has nothing to complain about." Only an Israeli would complain about there being nothing to complain about!!

And yet his statement represents the success of the bubble that Silicon Valley culture created, and within that bubble all is good. Can the Silicon Valley bubble be pierced? Popped? Sure, we have seen it happen. But that bubble is largely an economic one -- and those living at the "borders" of that bubble are somewhat indifferent, and when the bubble bursts are not so directly affected. Israel for many years has been behaving like a bubble, and those attempting to burst our bubble were operating with toothpicks going up against a super industrial strength bubble -- with a very thick skin. Poke us all you want, we don't feel it -- until the tooth picks get sharper, and pierce deeper (rockets in Tel Aviv). We cannot afford in Israel, or in neighboring States, for our bubbles to burst. We will not bounce back, as does Silicon Valley.

On my way back to Israel, an Israel that has woken up to the state of war it really is in, I think how we need to pursue peace at the same level of intensity that we fight our wars. We have finally started to stand and fight in a war that has been raging for some time. I pray that we can finish the war as quickly as can, and then start fighting for peace.

I bless us that we bring Israel to the point where Israelis can complain that there is nothing to complain about -- and then we will know we really did create our own version of Silicon Valley.

December 17, 2009

Can't let Hanuka go by without re-watching the Adam Sandler hanuka song, by now a classic. Here is a version with Neil Diamond set to animation. And while you are watching and listening, think about the questions of "Who is a Jew" and "What is a Jew." (hey, it's not all fun and games, this holiday is actually about some pretty deep themes and troubling history...but at least Sandler makes us laugh!).

December 15, 2009

This Friday morning is the celebration of the new month ("Rosh Chodesh") of Tevet, which as usual makes it a special day, when the days of holiday of Hanuka are raised to even higher level with the double celebration of Hanuka and the New Month. As on every Rosh Chodesh a dedicated group of women will gather at the remnants of the Second Temple (known as the "Western Wall" or at times the "Wailing Wall") to usher in the new month together, as they have been doing for 21 years. These women come in rain or shine, no matter what else is happening in the world or around them.

For close to 13 years my wife, Rabbi Dr. Haviva Ner-David was a very active member of this group. After we moved to the Galil 6 months ago she has not attended in person. But she will there this Friday morning, as a celebration of the holiday and as an act of solidarity with all women (and men) who seek to express their spirituality in ways other than the official ultra-orthodox position.

Below is a letter from a friend of ours, Rena Magun, which I think says it all, inviting all who can to eb physcially present at the Wall this Friday morning. I will be here in Hanaton, with some of our kids and meeting together with our fellow pioneers in building a new community, but with deep feelings and connections to Jerusalem, our home for 13 years and the heart of the Jewish people.

I pray that this Hanuka our ultra-orthodox brethren will realize that the Wall represents the destruction of the Temple and the Second Jewish commonwealth largely because of senseless hatred ("Sina'at Hinam") and the last thing we should be doing on Hanuka is fighting amongst ourselves, but rather respecting all the wonderful ways to be Jewish today.

As some of you know,
on Nov 18th a young woman named Nofrat Frankel was arrested (!) at
the Kotel for wearing a tallit. She was praying as part of the monthly Rosh
Chodesh gathering of Women at the Wall that has been going on for 21 years this
month. You can read more about their history and ongoing struggle with
the Israeli legal system at http://womenofthewall.blogspot.com/.

For me, a woman who
wears a tallit, Nofrat's arrest was frightening and deeply disturbing. On
the one hand, I long ago stopped relating to the Kotel religiously because I
feel so alienated as a woman when I pray there. On the other hand, how
can it be that almost all over the world, a woman can feel free to wear a
tallit, EXCEPT at the Kotel in Jerusalem,
the holiest of cities. The reason given is that the Kotel is considered
an Orthodox synagogue, and that people praying there must respect those
norms. What was once the small annoyance of an old woman giving you a
shawl to wrap around your shoulders or legs if you weren't modestly dressed,
has evolved over time into gender segregated entranceways (!), a complete ban
on groups of men and women praying together even way, way back in the Plaza,
and now an arrest for wearing a tallit.

THE KOTEL
DOES NOT BELONG TO THE ORTHODOX ESTABLISHMENT IN THIS COUNTRY. IT BELONGS TO
ALL JEWS.

On Friday morning,
Dec 18th, Rosh Chodesh Tevet, the 7th day of Chanukah, at
7:00 am,
Women of the Wall will be gathering to daven with their tallitot under their
coats. If enough women come, they will open their coats. Imagine if you will, what would happen if thousands of
women with tallitot came to join the davening…it is not an impossible
feat. If we all come out, it could easily happen.

For those of you who
don’t usually wear a tallit, consider doing so this once (and maybe afterwards
as well) as a statement of solidarity for the struggle for religious freedom
that these women have been waging for 21 years. After all, one day you or
your daughter might want to wear a tallit at the Kotel. Right now that is
impossible, and without your help it may remain impossible forever.

PLEASE
FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO MIGHT COME OR HAVE FRIENDS WHO MIGHT COME.

I am sad to say I
have removed my contact info from the signature of this e-mail for fear of
reprisal from extremists.

August 26, 2009

This morning we went through the final hoop along the circus act known as conversion in Israel. As many of you know, we adopted our sixth child, Mishael Binyamin, almost 18 months ago. We have been winding our way through the bureaucracy of the Israeli social systems ever since. On top of all the obstacle courses set up for families who adopt, our journey was made even more special due to the fact that Mishael was not "born Jewish." Of course, what does it mean to be "born Jewish?" Nu, subject of postings to come.

The beginning of the process was an application to the Israeli formal conversion office, which actually is an arm of the Office of the Prime Minister. After many months of being ignored, finally we were granted an interview with the "Beit Din," or religious court, made up of three rabbinical judges. These days Mishael talks up a storm, then he was a little more reserved, as many one year olds are. So we were asked a series of questions, we gave the rights answers, next stop, which was to wait for a brit mila, or circumcision.

Finally that came together, after many bumps in the road, some of which were right out of Abbot and Costello mixed with Kafka (example: Mishael does not have an ID number because his adoption is not complete yet, adoption can't be completed until conversion is completed. Conversion office were insisting he couldn't have a brit mila without an ID number....).

After the brit mila comes the ritual immersion, the mikveh. The brit mila was in Bat Yam, even though we were living in Jerusalem, because get this, no mohelim (authorized religious surgeons) are currently under contract with the conversion office in Jerusalem. Believe it or now. The mikveh...well, the only mikveh currently serving conversion is in Tsfat. We were actually happy to go to Tsfat, as we know live relatively close (yes, I know, I owe a few blog postings on the move to Galillee -- they will come). Just funny again that that is the only place to go.

Well, we made it there, again after few false starts, and Mishael enjoyed himself in the dunking.

May 06, 2009

Fred Wilson gets it head on in his posting (see below) on the coming revival of the IPO market for "venture backed companies," which for me is a euphemism for young companies starting to show promise but not controlled by a single investor (who could simply live off profits/dividends). The exit path for investors, option holders, etc. has traditionally been IPO, and M&A (if acquired for cash or by a public company with liquid shares).

I completely agree with Fred's analysis, but like many messianic prophecies, the question is not if, but when. On behalf of all of us in the start-up sector, may it be soon!

The End Of The IPO Drought Is Coming

I've said it a few times on this blog recently as offhand comments,
but I feel compelled to say it a bit more loudly. I think we will see
the end of the IPO drought for venture backed companies within the next
year, possibly by the end of this year. I don't know if this market
rally we've been having is a headfake or the end of the bear market. My
gut says we'll see at least one more pronounced down move before we see
bottom.

But either way, at some point investors are going to want to own
stocks again, and when they do, I think the old fashioned VC-backed IPO
will have quite a bit of appeal. Here's five reasons I think this is
going to happen:

1) VCs have been in the penalty box for almost a decade since we
committed the cardinal sin of foisting crap into the public markets.
Somehow the investment bankers who helped us do it got out a lot
earlier than we did. But we've done our time and others have replaced
VCs as enemy number one of public market investors.

RRE
has a number of companies that had zero revenues when we invested and
which are now doing $100 million or more in revenues and growing very
quickly. These companies have achieved what they needed to achieve,
become market leaders, yet they cannot go public or exit under the
assumptions that employees or founders assumed when they began.

So what do you do? Sit tight, be patient, and continue to grow the company.

3) Many of these companies are subscription-based or annuity
type business models that make for great public companies. Sarah Lacy
touched on this on her post about Open Table's IPO:

OpenTable is
hardly an Internet homerun. It’s frequently described as a consumer
Internet company, when really it’s a software-as-a-service company. The
good news –for this moment in time—is that that means Open Table
doesn’t have an ad model. It actually has paying customers in the form
of restaurants using its reservation software and paying it monthly
subscription fees.

4) When investors decide they want to own stocks again, they are
going to look for simple businesses, products they can understand,
balance sheets with cash and not much else, and growth without
leverage. Guess what? That's what the venture capital industry produces.

5) Sarbox is now well understood by the accounting industry and by
the finance teams inside of our companies. There are providers of
Sarbox compliance tools and services that have now brought the cost of
Sarbox compliance down to reasonable levels. I'm not saying that Sarbox
is good or that it doesn't need to be reworked (it does), but it's a
devil we know at this point and it will not impede the IPO boom when it
comes.

Last week the NVCA put out a four point plan to "restore liquidity in the venture capital industry"
at its annual meeting last week in Boston. It involves getting more
investment banks engaged in taking our companies public, spurring the
development of secondary market exchages and related pre-IPO liquidity
activities, continued lobbying for lower taxes on VCs and
entrepreneurs, and reform of Sarbox.

Regular readers know that I am a huge fan of the secondary market
idea and I welcome the NVCA's attention and energy on that issue. On
the other three, I think they are wasting their time. It's like the
government suing Microsoft while Linux was growing in popularity right
under their noses. I believe the market will take care of this problem
as soon as we get a market that wants to purchase equities.

And my gut says that time will come sooner than most think.

Fred Wilson is a partner at Union Square Ventures. He writes the influential A VC, where this post was originally published.

April 21, 2009

Reading through reports of Ahmadinejad's appearance at the UN sponsored event in Geneva yesterday, and of course reflecting on Yom Hashoa and it's juxtaposition to Pesach, I thought back to another "world leader" who attempted to us the UN to whitewash his true face.

I am talking about Kurt Waldheim, an unrepentant Nazi who managed to shield himself so well that he rose to the position of UN Secretary General and President of Austria before concerned members of the human race began to unmask him (I had the honor of being one of those concerned humans).

On Pesach we are told to relive history, not to talk about about as something that happened long ago to some people with whom we have a tenuous historical connection, but rather as if we ourselves were just liberated from slavery. As if we ourselves were just experiencing freedom for the first time. I like to call this "Living History in the Moment."

When I first learned about Kurt Waldheim's past, and then watched as did all he could to distort history and make a mockery of the fight for freedom, I decided I needed to live history in the moment, and together with Elie Wurtman, Rabbi Avi Weiss, and many others, spoke truth to power, raised a voice of moral conscience. And we were heard.

I am not happy with myself that I did not do more to protest Ahmadinejad's participation in the UN meeting yesterday. At least Waldheim tried to evade his past...Ahmadinejad is proud of it, and continues to sow hatred and evil around the globe, both directly and indirectly. Shame on the UN for allowing him to disgrace their podium. And shame on us for being too silent.

Pesach makes us relive the taste of freedom -- but with freedom comes responsibility.

See this NYTimes story from 1990. Scary that this was 19 years ago. We have learned so little. Oh, by the way, Davidson=Ner-David (read to the end of the story....)

Evolution in Europe; 2 HEADS OF STATE CALL ON WALDHEIM

By HENRY KAMM, Special to The New York Times

Published: Friday, July 27, 1990

Presidents Vaclav Havel of
Czechoslovakia and Richard von Weizsacker of West Germany met with
President Kurt Waldheim of Austria today, further eroding efforts over
the last four years to isolate Mr. Waldheim diplomatically because of
his war record.

Mr. Havel, a longtime human-rights
campaigner, has been widely criticized for accepting an invitation to
open the Salzburg Festival. But he made his address a pointed lecture
to those who ''rewrite their own history'' and ''fear facing their own
past.''

Public Contact Minimized

The two visitors
minimized their public contact with Mr. Waldheim, who is suspected of
having been aware of war crimes committed by his German unit when he
was a lieutenant in occupied Greece and Yugoslavia. He also has been
accused of having covered up that part of his biography during his rise
to high office. Mr. Waldheim served two terms as Secretary General of
the United Nations, and it was only during his campaign for the
Austrian presidency in 1986 that public allegations about his record
surfaced.

In a television interview tonight, Mr. Waldheim
said he saw no link between Mr. Havel's statements and his own history.
He said he had not rewritten his biography or denied anything from his
past, and that ''international commissions'' had ruled that he shared
in no guilt for war crimes.

Until today, the only European
head of state to have seen President Waldheim in Austria was President
George Vassiliou of Cyprus. But in this same period Mr. Waldheim was
visited by Pope John Paul II; Giulio Andreotti, Italy's Foreign
Minister; Eduard A. Shevardnadze, the Soviet Foreign Minister, and
Crown Prince Raja Vajiralongkorn of Thailand.

On his travels
in this period, mostly to Islamic countries, Mr. Waldheim has met with
King Hussein of Jordan and President Kenan Evren of Turkey.

In
an interview published in Vienna on the eve of his visit, Mr. Havel
questioned the moral value of Western leaders' avoidance of contacts
with Mr. Waldheim.

''I don't want to say that this posture
didn't originally have an ethical basis,'' Mr. Havel said in the
interview with the daily Salzburger Nachrichten. ''Of course it did,
but by turning it into a ritual it becomes void and loses its original
moral content and become a cliche.''

In comments reported by
the Czechoslovak press agency, Mr. Havel said his decision to attend
the festival was a ''expression of respect for the Salzburg festival
and especially the Austrian nation.''

Mr. Havel was
criticized for coming here even by Charter 77, the human-rights
organization that he helped to found and that became the core of the
dissident movement under his country's Communist former leadership. His
visit was also questioned in a front-page open letter by Lidove Noviny,
a daily that is close to the Czechoslovak President. #3 Are Guests at
Lunch The crush of photographers and reporters around Mr. Waldheim as
he awaited the joint arrival of the visiting Presidents in the Festival
Theatre lobby this morning was so great that it apparently prevented
his greeting them formally in public.

But the three spoke
briefly after Mr. Havel's address and were guests at a lunch given by
the province's Governor in a hotel a few yards down the narrow street
from the house where Mozart was born.

Lunching with Mr.
Havel could not have been easy for the 71-year-old Mr. Waldheim. The
literary indirection of Mr. Havel's speech could hardly disguise to
whom it was addressed.

Making existential fear of history in
Central Europe his theme, Mr. Havel, who is 53, said he had felt such
anxiety himself. He spoke of his ''hangover'' in recent days, when the
''poetry'' of the events that made him President gave way to everyday
''prose'' after his election last month by the first freely chosen
Parliament in four decades.

''Fear of history in these parts
is not only fear of the future but also fear of the past,'' Mr. Havel
said. ''He who fears what is to come usually also fears facing what has
already been. And he who fears facing his own past must necessarily
fear what lies before him.''

''Too often in this corner of
the world, fear of one lie leads only to another lie, in the vain hope
that it will cover up not only the first but also the very practice of
lying,'' he continued. ''But lying can never save us from the lie.
Falsifiers of history do not safeguard freedom but imperil it.

''The
assumption that one can with impunity navigate through history and
rewrite one's own biography belongs to the traditional Central European
delusions.

''If some one tries to do this, he harms himself
and his fellow citizens. For there is no full freedom there where
freedom is not given to the full truth. In this or other ways, many
here have made themselves guilty. Yet we cannot be forgiven, and in our
souls peace cannot reign, as long as we do not at least admit our
guilt. Confession liberates.''

''I have many reasons for the
statement that the truth liberates man from fear,'' Mr. Havel said. He
said that dissidents in Eastern Europe retained their human qualities
only by speaking the truth without fear. ''Otherwise they would
probably have succumbed to their despair,'' said the man who served
more than four years in prison for speaking his mind.

Mr.
Havel concluded: ''Let us try then to free this sorely tested region
not only from its fear of the lie but also of its fear of the truth.
Let us at last look sincerely, calmly and attentively into our own
faces, into our past, present and future. We will reach beyond its
ambiguity only when we understand it.''

Visits Are Labeled Private

The
presidential visits were labeled private and devoted to the festival,
and no national flags bedecked the town, which was bathed in sunshine.
Mr. Havel and Mr. Weizsacker, left for home after lunch, the German by
helicopter and the Czechoslovak by car.

Mr. Waldheim arrived
at the restaurant in his own car, followed minutes later by the two
visitors traveling together. In the discussion before lunch, Mr. Havel
invited Mr. Waldheim and the Austrian Chancellor, Franz Vranitzky, to
send experts to take part in Czechoslovak studies on the safety of a
planned nuclear-power plant near the Austrian border that is opposed by
Austrian environmentalists.

Mr. Havel explained in his
speech that he had accepted the invitation about a year ago in the
belief that, as usual, he would not be allowed to travel and would
smuggle out his essay to be read by another. Before his first election
as President last December, he had not left Czechoslovakia since 1968.

Privately,
Czechoslovak officials said earlier in Prague that the President would
have avoided the visit had he been invited immediately after the
revolution that catapulted him from dissidence to the presidency. He
was reported to have sweetened the pill by obtaining Mr. Weizsacker's
agreement to accompany him.

The German President, who is 70,
had won wide acclaim for a speech in 1985 accepting German
responsibility for the crimes of Nazis and had been the first foreign
leader whom Mr. Havel invited to Prague after becoming President. Mr.
Weizsacker's father, a German diplomat, was convicted of war crimes at
the Nuremberg trials, and served two years of a seven-year sentence.

Mr.
Weizsacker and Mr. Havel arrived from Germany in a West German Border
Police helicopter. Even Czechoslovaks who opposed the visit do not
suspect Mr. Havel of having kept the engagement with the Salzburg
Festival to ingratiate himself or his nation with their neighbor. His
address was clearly not designed to make the Austrian President his
friend.

'I Like to Keep Promises'

''I accepted, and I like to keep my promises,'' Mr. Havel said to an Austrian television interviewer.

The
only disorder was provoked by two militant American Jews in the theater
lobby before Mr. Havel's address, who shouted at Mr. Waldheim, accusing
him of mass murder. Austrian reporters identified them as Rabbi Avi
Weiss of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, the Bronx, and Jacob
Davidson. They were taken into custody, a police spokesman said, and
released about 90 minutes later on bail of an undisclosed amount. last
subhed can bite

Photo: Presidents Vaclav Havel of
Czechoslovakia, right, and Richard von Weizsacker of West Germany,
center, met yesterday in Salzburg with President Kurt Waldheim despite
a tacit boycott of Austria by other leaders. (Agence France-Presse)

A version of this article appeared in print on Friday, July 27, 1990, on section A page 1 of the New York edition.

April 08, 2009

As usual, the Israeli government and security apparatus, in their infinite wisdom, chose the day before Pesach to finally carry out the destruction order on the house of one of the "tractor" terrorists in the village of Tzur Bacher, just 2 kilometers from my house, on the Southern edge of Jerusalem.

Putting the issue of the timing (I can't even begin to write about that), and even putting aside the proven uselessness of house demotion as a deterent against future terrorism (numerous ISRAELI GOVERNMENT panels have concluded hosue demolitions have zero deterant value), want to address the fact that during this event a 20 year old Jerusalemite (resident of Jabel Mukaber, next door village to Tzur Bacher) was killed by the Israeli security forces, and you probably don't even know. It was not reported on even in today's Yediot Achranot, Israel's most widely read newspaper (it was on Ynet yesterday, their internet site). According to Israeli security forces, a man drove his car directly into a group of Border Patrol personnel, who were on hand to prevent a riot from breaking out while the hosue was being destroyed. According to local residents, the man was on his way to the post office to pay bills...

Who knows. Twenty shots were fired into the car, he died.

Another family in mourning.

Do we care?

As we head into Pesach, the holiday of liberation and freedom, just take a moment and think of all of those who do not enjoy basic freedoms. And think of the part in you that wants to be free of caring, and recognize that true freedom can only exist if we sacrifice a little of our individual "freedom," and care about our fellow people, our world and it's future.

January 01, 2009

While we are still processing the bitter reality of having the bulk of our net worth wiped out by Madoff and his helper Merkin, I can say that I am blessed.

While we barely can digest the horror taking place (on all "sides") in the Gaza area (which is getting wider all the time, with rockets falling in Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Be'ersheva), I can say I am blessed.

While we begin 2009 no closer to a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian struggle for independence, I can say that I am blessed.

While our world is racing toward becoming more and more "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" (see Thomas Friedman's book for more on that), I can say that I am blessed.

Where are all these blessings you ask? Well, to my side stands my soulmate Haviva, who I love more than ever (and without her could not fathom facing any of the above). And then I look at our children (Michal, Adin, Meira, Hallel, Nachum, and Mishael. I think of my parents, Don and Esther, and my sister Phyllis and her family, my in-laws Dan and Ruth, Haviva's siblings, and our crazy network of friends all over the world.

We are living in Jerusalem, after 3,000 years of history, playing our part. We are truly blessed. Now lets pray that in 2009 we can put aside the curses of war, greed, jealousy, famine, and poverty and spread blessings of love, peace and prosperity.

December 10, 2008

Later this week, my friend and soulmate of more than 20 years, Yosef Israel Abramowitz will stand in the primaries of a new political party, the Green Movement. Hastily put together, as all activist endeavors are, in the face of the new/old political machines of the new/old State of Israel, Yosef and the other candidates are running on the winds of change.

For the first time since becoming an Israeli citizen (formally in 1996) I joined a political party, because Yosef, Alon Tal, and the other founders of this new party took the time to write a 17 page platform that speaks to the holisitic incredible potential of this experiment known as the State of Israel. (Yes...Israel is still very much an experiment, with many mistakes made along the way, in the search for the "right" formula -- more on that another time).

Not since the late Menachem Begin of blessed memory left the political stage have we been led by people with a Jewish world view. Gevalt, you say, how could I so easily besmirch leaders such as Rabin of blessed memory, Netanyahu, Peres, Barak, Livni, and more, who have devoted their lives to the Jewish people and State. Yes, they have, but unfortunately they do not think or express themselves in a deeply Jewish manner. Once in a blue moon Peres can pull from deep down, reaching back 70-80 years and express a Jewish longing, but most of the time he sounds like a nice UN diplomat with a funny accent. And the rest? Sigh...very shallow professional politicians that wouldn't recognize the Jewish people walking down the street.

My hope for the Green Movement, is that like Greens all over the world, they go way beyond formalistic "environment" issues, and speak to the Jewish hope for a better world. Starting here, and then speaking out to the world. As Jews. Creating a Jewish State. To me, the ultimate Green is someone who is concerned about more than him/herself. Which is the Jewish ideal.

Why aren't I running for Knesset? Nu, my father asks the same question. For now I am supporting Yosef Abramowitz and the rest of the Green Movement in their knesset bid.

If you have the time, come this Friday morning to the Kibbutz Seminar campus in Tel Aviv to watch history in the making, as the Green Movement holds it first primaries (and if by chance you are a member, vote for Yosef!).

September 29, 2008

While I wish for all of us a Shana Tova Umetuka (Happy "Sweet" New Year), want to send thoughts especially to Gilad Shalit and Jonathan Pollard. They will not be able to celebrate the new year tonight with their families, may this be the last Rosh Hashana they spend in captivity.